Man charged with murder of trans student Juniper Blessing found incompetent to stand trial

This story originally appeared on Them and describes the violent killing of a transgender woman.Christopher Michael Leahy, the man charged with first-degree murder over the fatal stabbing of 19-year-old transgender University of Washington student Juniper Blessing, has been found incompetent to stand trial.In a hearing on June 29, King County Superior Court Judge Joe Campagna ordered Leahy to spend up to 90 days at Western State Hospital, where he will undergo competency restoration treatment. Leahy had previously been sent to the psychiatric hospital for evaluation after his attorneys expressed doubt that he would be able to assist in his own trial.“Based on our observations, we don't think he’s competent to move forward,” defense attorney Laura Shaver said during the June hearing.While the murder trial will proceed, competency is used to determine whether a defendant can enter a plea. He is scheduled to return to court again on September 25, where a judge will re-evaluate his competency.Leahy, 31, turned himself in to the Bellevue Police Department on May 13, three days after Blessing was found dead in the laundry room of her off-campus student apartment building, where prosecutors say Leahy stabbed her over 40 times. According to court documents reviewed by Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger, Leahy “stalked another UW student across a multi-building apartment complex eventually following this second student into the same building and same room where he would viciously murder Juniper Blessing.Blessing was a major in University of Washington’s Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science, with a beautiful voice and passion for singing. She knew multiple languages, loved Pokémon, had a five-octave vocal range, and was an avid member of the UW Chorale, an ensemble of the school’s advanced vocalists.“Juniper was a beautiful human being with a heart full of love, tolerance, talent, determination and intellectual curiosity that was a light in our world and